While domestic energy demand surges, our adversaries — led by China, the world’s dominant energy financier — are outpacing us in investments in innovative R&D and critical infrastructure. To win this competition, the federal government must enable the U.S. energy sector to compete in technology areas where the financial risk is too high for the private sector to bear alone. One of the U.S. government’s more powerful tools is loan guarantees.
At a recent climate conference in Brazil, the Governor of California Gavin Newsom insisted that “The United States of America is as dumb as we want to be on this topic [of climate change], but the state of California is not,” Newsom said. “We are going to assert ourselves, we’re going to lean in, and we are going to compete in this space.” Let’s review the facts and see who is really doubling down on dumb.
Democrats are desperate to make the 2026 midterm elections about affordability, buoyed by their November victories, enthusiasm for their so-called Abundance Agenda, and polling showing President Donald Trump losing support on the economy.
The Trump administration is making it a mission to restore the manufacturing might of the United States of America. That will have both civilian and military benefits. It’s a challenge, but we know American companies are up to it. Consider just one, NanoGraf Corporation.
The trade war between the U.S. and China is turning into an MMA-style cage match. President Donald Trumpjust announced 100% tariffs on Chinese-made goods, while President Xi Jinping has slapped a near 100% ban on critical minerals from China into the U.S. Xi’s move makes the heart of the conflict clear: The ultimate winner will be the country that dominates critical minerals mining supply chains and the innovative energy that critical minerals make possible.
What we didn’t see reported was the actual progress made during the sessions (or outside the sessions). An important event quietly brought together the leaders of Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa, along with bipartisan leadership from Congress, and philanthropists representing the Walton Family to the Bezos Earth Fund, all around a central theme of conservation and international cooperation.
“The West does not need to develop a home-grown substitute for the entire Chinese rare-earth industry to reduce the threat China’s monopoly poses,” the Economist article concluded. Indeed, “the West could ‘significantly derisk’ by cutting its reliance on China to 60-70 percent of consumption. That would provide sufficient alternative supply for the most critical uses.”
When world leaders fly into New York City (just think of the CO2 emissions from all the flights!) to hobnob at the annual UN General Assembly, they think and act as many leaders often do: they are seeking top-down solutions to global problems. They will tell us what to do. If we balk, they will offer to pay us to do it. If we do it, then problem(s) solved.
This brings us to a recent Tweet by Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “Even if you wrapped the entire planet in a solar panel, you would only be producing 20% of global energy. One of the biggest mistakes politicians can make is equating the ELECTRICITY with ENERGY!”
Tom Friedman, opinion columnist at the New York Times, recently complained that Trump’s tax bill “quickly phases out tax credits enjoyed by utility-scale solar and wind, as well as electric vehicle tax credits.” Well, yes. That’s the point. Instead of the federal government handing out subsidies and selecting winners and losers, we will allow consumers to drive the energy future.
Help us promote free market solutions for climate change.
Thank you for signing up